The series when we studied Isaiah 13-23 took place at a strange time. Global events churned fiercely and we were reminded, almost in an unprecedented way, of how important it is to connect our Bible reading with our reading of current affairs. Though the events of Isaiah 13-23 largely revolve around the rise of Assyria as the major power in the ancient world, how keenly we felt the indictment against human pride, and the emptiness of international alliances, forums and military coalitions in our day!
To quote directly from our lesson from Isaiah 23 entitled “A Prostitute’s Hope”, “this series has included ten oracles to the nations, that all revolve around the ongoing rise of Assyria in this part of the world.”
It can be difficult for us to connect the dots between an ancient Near Eastern empire and the scope and scale of its power, not to mention the offensiveness of its spiritual arrogance against God. But the words of the Rabshekah, an Assyrian aide in Scripture show us just how boldly arrogant the ambition of this empire was: “Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered? Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?’” (Isa 37:10–13) Through mockery and boasting of its conquest over other nations, we hear the self-sufficiency and idolatrous pride of Assyria over Hezekiah, the king from the line of David.
Thus in our study on Isaiah 23, we were reminded us of how Scripture paints this Assyrian threat on the canvas of the many nations in their day: “Thus In chapter 13 to 20 Isaiah speaks oracles of how God rules decisively over the nations including the big boys in town Babylon, Assyria, and over Philistia, Moab, Samaria, Cush and Egypt. And from them we learnt important spiritual lessons about: the God who intervenes over history, the One who will have the last laugh, who works His will in the world, who holds out good news, who hates pride, who is worthy of your full attention even in the Assyrian crisis, who dictates the news of the day, and rules over geopolitical powers (refer to our website on the individual studies for more details).
From chapter 21 to 23 Isaiah makes five shorter, starker declarations directed at the anti-Assyrian players of the day (Egypt, Babylon (not to be confused with later superpower) Babylon, Edom, Arabia and now Tyre. It is slightly odd that Tyre follows the oracle to Jerusalem, which blindly celebrates superficial gains and successes without spiritual insight. For their blindness, the Lord will raze Jerusalem’s heights so that it becomes a “valley of vision”. It is possible that with the appointment of the steward Eliakim as the royal steward by God Himself, the prophet circles back to the final unmentioned anti-Assyrian nation, and reveals the word of the Lord to Tyre. Eliakim must not lead God’s people into trusting in the militaries of the nations, they should not hope in the economic might of Tyre in the face of the Assyrian threat either.”
So what does this mean for us? For us, reading Isaiah 13-23 should help us plainly that the God of the Bible is no mere tribal deity or god of a single civilisation. The scale of His authority and glory is not restricted to the golden walls of Jerusalem, or the desert borders of Israel. He is the God of the nations, and the heavens and the earth can barely contain Him.
Since we began this series in March 2022, what has happened in the world? Or put it another way - what opportunities have we been given to ponder on the sovereignty of our God over the nations?
The Russian invasion of Ukraine, now in its third month - the largest armed conflict on European continent in 80 years
Mass migration of fleeing refugees across Europe
The soaring price of oil and gas as a result of the war and retaliatory tariffs
Inflation across the world as markets react to world conditions
The global supply chain disruption and the slowdown of international commerce and shipping
The pandemic brought great Chinese cities to full standstill through lockdowns
The leak of Supreme Court Roe opinion fanning ferocious lobbying
The collapse of once-invincible technology companies and hollowing out of social media giants
New COVID-19 variants emerging from the African continent
Collapse of the nation of Sri Lanka due to corruption and mismanagement
The end of Scandinavian neutrality as Finland and Sweden apply to join NATO
COVID-19 catches the hermit kingdom of North Korea off guard - the last unvaccinated country in the world
The unexpected promotion of the next generation national leader of Singapore
Countries practising self-interested food protectionism - felt in our neighborhood through chicken and fish exports
Intensifying conflict in the Asian theater between the US and China and its proxies
The implosion of support for the British Prime Minister through the “Partygate” scandal
The acrimonious Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial spelling a turning point in the #MeToo movement
The damning release of the 300 page report on Southern Baptist sex abuse report by Guidepost
Recurring gun violence in the US, the latest of which targeted young children
In these events, we see the nations in turmoil, political alliances crumbling, economies crashing, commerce failing and every hope for human security, ingenuity, man-made progress upturned and stalled. Social movements and coalitions have cannibalized themselves and there is no corner of the earth where anxiety has not taken ahold. Is this fruitless, barren world out of control? Where is this all this chaos going? The incisive words of Isaiah should be our prayer, and give us clarity and courage:
“In that day man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will look on the Holy One of Israel. He will not look to the altars, the work of his hands, and he will not look on what his own fingers have made, either the Asherim or the altars of incense. In that day their strong cities will be like the deserted places of the wooded heights and the hilltops, which they deserted because of the children of Israel, and there will be desolation.” (Isaiah 17:7–9 ESV)
Even in anxious days, looking and learning the lessons from the nations should teach us to trust the God who holds it all in His hands.